The usual mix of pedantic Canadiana with moments where you almost actually get a fire going. Excerpt from Robert Fowler's book about being kidnapped by al-Qaeda, which reads weirdly trashily for a book by an old-time Canadian liberal internationalists (but he does fess to being into bravo Two Zero and shit like that, so if that's his literary model ...); a weirdly defensive "I don't get opera but really tried to say something nice about it anyway" piece from Tom Jokinen, an article on fracking that gives some good basics; a meditation on the bleed between Christmas and Hallowe'en, again, personal in this showehorned way that enervates; an article on the Arcade Fire and the Grammies and Montreal that, let's face it, was never gonna hit the right tone for me (Rosie O'Donnell's never heard of them? I've never heard of Rosie O'Donnell). Besides being late to the party. But, you know, once you make it onto the list of acceptable Canadian subjects to write about .... ( )